1.

Explain how Animal Farm can be seen as a fable even though it doesn’t have a
moral stated at the end. Provide a moral of your own and explain how it fits the
novel.
● Animal Farm can be seen as a fable even though it doesn’t have a
moral stated in the end because animal characters are used giving
each a human-like role (personality) to behave in a realistic way but
are at the same time symbolic for certain attitudes
● Hidden message: Making a point about events in Russia
○ attack on dictatorships and seizing power
○ want to show people what happened when people leading
the revolution were able to do what they pleased
○ he wasn’t against revolution
● Moral
○ 1. Absolute power can lead to absolute corruption→
Napoleon
■ Power=authority and strength
■ Corrupted ideas→ Animalism and The Seven
Commandments
○ 2. Having some power will not lead to corruption
○ 3. Don’t take advantage of those around us who are weaker
or less intelligent→ Boxer and the sheeps
○ 4. No matter how hard we try, equality can never be reached
in a society → different views and opinions lead to some
being more powerful than the others

2. Give examples of peer pressure as used in the novel, paying close attention to
Boxer and the Sheep.
● Peer pressure= influence exerted by a peer group encouraging a
person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior
● SHEEPS
○ lower class characters representing masses at large
○ low class jobs chanting “Four legs good, two legs bad!” (pg
24)
○ described to be the most simple, dumb
■ anonymous
■ no named sheep
○ little knowledge of revolution
○ very loyal
○ Their chant shows how easily the sheep can be led in a
particular direction
○ At the end of the novel, one of the Seven Commandments
have been changed after the pigs started walking on two
legs “Four legs good, two legs better” (pg 97).
● BOXER
○ Boxer’s intense desire to be part of the community by
 working hard fits well with Napoleon’s power-hungry
interests, so Boxer was taken advantage of
■ overworks himself although he is told by Squealer not
to
■ wakes 45 minutes before everyone else
■ works on the windmill during spare time
○ Napoleon abuses his power making life harder for the
animals
■ forced to work during weekends

3. Examine Boxer. What is his role on the farm? How does this role change? Is he
an admirable character? Why or why not? Could have saved Animal Farm from
Napoleon’s tyranny?
● Who is Boxer?
○ enormous carthorse
○ respected for incredible strength and unbreakable work ethic
■ Motto: “I will work harder” (pg 91)
■ ex. Boxer carries on with the construction of the
windmill even though every other animal has stopped
● Admirable
○ Commitment to the completion of the windmill
■ ploughs on until he collapses
■ uses his unmatchable strength to help build windmill
and maintain farm
○ Devout supporter of revolution
● Not Admirable
○ Faith in the pigs
■ “Napoleon is always right” (pg 41).
■ devotion to pigs→ led to downfall
● lacks intelligence and can’t realise when pigs
are exploiting him and other animals
● even trusts the pigs and calls for them when he
collapses in the quarry
■ “If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right” (pg 41)
● Inevitably leads to Boxer being slaughtered
○ Horses= pig’s “most faithful disciples
■ “they absorbed everything that they were told, and
passed it on to the other animals by simple
arguments” (pg 12).
○ Never doubts or opposes the pigs
■ “It must be due to some fault in ourselves” (pg 63)
● he believes that if something has gone wrong it
must be the animals’ fault

4. Compare and contrast Napoleon and Snowball. Compare personalities,

motivations, and relationships. Who was the better leader? What motivated each
 of them? What kind of relationship did they have with the other animals? How
were their views on life and leadership similar or different?
Napoleon
Adjectives:
● Brave comrade
● Noble leader
● Brutal dictator
Personalities:
● Controlling
● Murderous (lust for
power)
● Selfish (does things for
his own good only)
Motivations:
● Wants to win over
Snowball
Relationships:
-Napoleon vs Snowball → BAD
→ “Snowball and Napoleon
were by far the most active in
the debates. But it was noticed
that these two were never in
agreement: whatever suggestion
either of them made, the other
could be counted to oppose it”
(pg 22).
→ “These two disagreed at
every point disagreement was
possible” (pg 22).
→ Blames everything on
Snowball- “Do you know who is
responsible for this? Do you
know the enemy who has come
in the night and overthrown our
windmill? SNOWBALL!” (pg 70).
Snowball Both
Adjectives: ● Pigs
● Farm’s intellectual
● Intelligent
Personalities:
● Passionate (full support
of the revolution)
● Brave
→ “Without halting for
an instant, Snowball
flung his fifteen stone
against Jones’s legs’”
(pg 30)
Motivations: - Wanted a
● Dedication to farm leadership
● Wants to improve life for position
all animals
Relationships: - Both had bad
-Snowball vs Napoleon → relationships
BAD
→ Nearly killed by
Napoleon’s dogs and flees the
farm
→ Contrasting ideas→
windmill
-Snowball vs other animals →
GOOD/BAD
→ GOOD: liked by the
animals, they think he’s a good
leader because of the
commandments and because
he is likable and hard working
→ BAD: as soon as he was
driven away, Napoleon turns
Snowball to a hated figure-
“Whenever anything went
wrong it became usual to
attribute it to Snowball” (pg
 78).

Better leader (?): Better leader (?):

● Showed disregard for
other pigs of the
commandments that were
laid at the beginning of
the book
○ Sleeps in a bed
○ Trades with human
○ Drinks alcohol
○ Murders other
animals
○ Walks on two legs
○ Wear clothes
● Shares and follows
most of Major’s ideas
● Wrote the 7
commandments
● Shares the
commandments more
than any other animals
● Promote the revolution
● Teaches the animals
new skills
● Brave in battle
● Brilliant strategist
● Mastermind behind the
windmill

5. Clover saw many changes on the farm after the first mention of the rebellion.How
does her character change? What/who is she meant to represent? What is she
thinking as she sees her husband carted off to his death?
● Clover saw Mollie at the border between Animal Farm and Foxwood with
Pilkington who was rubbing her nose and giving her sugar cubes
● Each time Clover suspects that the Seven Commandments have been
changed, Squealer manages to convince her that she is wrong
● She wanted Jones around but this condition is still better so she will still
work even though it wasn’t her original goal. She had no thoughts of
rebellion or disobedience